Dick Beals

Richard Beals (March 16, 1927 – May 29, 2012) was an American actor and radio performer, who performed many voices in his career, which spanned the period from the early 1950s into the 21st century. Beals voiced male children. Perhaps his most recognizable characterization was the voice of the stop-motion animation figure called "Speedy Alka-Seltzer", featured in television commercials for more than 50 years. Early life Beals was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 16, 1927, and graduated in 1949 from Michigan State University (MSU), where he majored in radio broadcasting and puppetry. He covered intramural sports and performed in weekly radio dramas for the campus radio station WKAR. Beals was also a member of the Michigan State cheerleading squad. Career In 1935, an old schoolmate of Beals' mom who was working for the Jam Handy studios, which was producing advertising motion pictures and other film short subjects, was looking for small children to appear in their feature films. Eventually, Beals' mom agreed and Beals would began acting in several Jam Handy films at the age of eight years old over the next couple of years before attending college.